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The Duchess of Cambridge received a warm welcome from children waving flags outside a hospice in the eastern English town of Ipswich as she arrived to inaugurate the building and make her first public speech.

The duchess, wife to Queen Elizabeth's eldest grandson, Prince William, will open the Treehouse, a new building for East Anglia's Children's Hospices, a group of charities of which she is a royal patron.

The duchess, Kate Middleton, will address the organization's staff, supporters and the families of children with life-threatening conditions who are supported and cared for by the charity which works across the counties of Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

During the visit the duchess will also tour the facilities and meet children and their families who receive care and support from the hospice service.